The government has submitted a draft to Congress seeking to change the law Glacier Protection Act and generate millions in investments. The executive branch made this known in a statement published on Monday evening by the Presidential Office, in which it ensures that the law signed in 2010 has “serious deficiencies”. ”The country’s development was hindered under ideological pretexts“he says.
According to the government, its intention is to amend the Law on Minimum Budgets for the Protection of Glaciers No. 26,639 during the extraordinary sessions “with the aim of ordering the current regulatory framework, putting an end to arbitrary interpretations and.” “Consolidate a system of environmental federalism that is fully compatible with the national constitution.”
“This reform proposes clear rules: protects glaciers that fulfill an effective water function, “Strengthens current environmental standards and eliminates the discretion that, under ideological pretexts, hindered the country’s economic development,” said the letter circulated on social networks.
The letter states: “The project reaffirms the constitutional mandate of Article 41, which calls for the protection of the environment without impeding human development, and Article 124, which recognizes the original ownership of the provinces over their natural resources.”
Against this background, the government’s project aims to “strengthen the role of provincial authorities in environmental impact assessment, recognize their technical and scientific capacities and promote efficient connection with the National Glacier Inventory in order to have accurate, timely and useful information for decision-making.” He assures us that it is a “real reform of environmental federalism“.
It then emphasizes that the reform follows the guidelines and courses set by the libertarian government within the framework of “deregulation, the order of the state, respect for the constitution and the liberation of the productive forces”.
However, the statement emphasizes that the new reform aims to respond to the claims of the provinces that are members of the Lithium Table (Catamarca, Jujuy And Jump) and the copper table (Mendoza And Saint John). However, there is no mention of any of the regions of Patagonia where the country’s main glaciers are located.
Law No. 26,639 (“Minimum budgetary regulation for the conservation of glaciers and the periglacial environment”) defines a glacier as “any stable perennial ice mass or that flows slowly, with or without interstitial water, formed by the recrystallization of snow and found in different ecosystems, regardless of shape, size and state of conservation. “The rock debris as well as the inland and surface watercourses are part of every glacier.”
Likewise, the “periglacial” environment in high mountains is understood as the area with frozen soils, which acts as a regulator of water resources. In the case of the low and low mountain ranges, however, the area that acts as a regulator of water resources with ice-saturated soils.
Article 6 of the standard prohibits the exploration and exploitation of mining activities in glaciers and periglacial environments, as well as other activities that may alter the natural dynamics of ice or water quality, as well as the storage or handling of toxic substances.
In recent statements by the President Javier Milei I expected that the change that the Executive was considering in relation to extraordinary measures had to do with a clearer definition of what a glacial zone and a periglacial zone are, in which the provinces are involved. Furthermore, companies in the sector agree to this change Investments are unlocked for copper extractionwhich totals $35,000 million.
Milei also admitted that the idea came from the governor of Mendoza. Alfredo Cornejoand discussed with the other three provinces that make up the copper table: San Juan (Marcelo Orrego), Raúl Catamarca (Raúl Jalil) and Jujuy (Carlos Sadir).
The president, for his part Argentine Chamber of Mining Companies (CAEM)Roberto Cacciola explained to LA NACION that relaxing the glacier law would mean the release of projects that will bring multi-million dollar investments in the coming years. “75% of the area of the announced copper projects requires legal clarification as they are located in areas considered periglacial; most have already started the application process for approval.” Incentive system for major investments (RIGI)“, he explained.
It should be noted that more than 25 organizations from across the country expressed their concerns about the possible reform of the Glacier Law. According to the organizations, a change would mean allowing economic activities – particularly large-scale mining – with high environmental impacts, including the loss of the water stored in them.
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